Dental tray



May 15,1923. w 1,455,518"

L;BALTER DENTAL-TRAY Filed March s.'1922' INVENTOR ATTORNEY Patented May 15, 1923.

r 1,455,518 PATENT-i F1*' ?..'-f

' LoU I s BAIkrsa or roman; Y, I

QENTAL'TRAY." H

Application filed March '3, 1922. Serial'No; 540,683;

To all whom it may concern Be it known that -I, LOUIS Ban'rnnfa citizen of-the United States, residing at E rk city, in the'county ofNeW-York and Stateof New Yorlnfhave invented certa'in'new and useful -Imp1'"ovemeI'1ts in Dental Trays, fully described and represented in the following specification and the -faccompanying drawings, forming a part of the I same.

This invention relates to improvements n Y dental trays.

' It is an aim of the present invention to provide animproved-tray for 'dentalpurposes, which shall be especially useful in,

taking plasterimpressions for-use in makmg'upper and lower setsof artificial teeth.- By the use of thepresent tray,"various (hffi'c'ult'ies heretofore "experienced have been overcome, some of WlllCll have been due either tothe presence of'one orv more teeth remaining in' the jaw of which the impreS-L sion-is tobe taken, with consequent adherin attempting to r'emove the plaster cast inassembly for further use. stancesjhowever, it {is necessary to breaka the plaster cast to an objectionable extent ence ofthe plaster to such tooth or teeth, thus 'occasioning much pain-to the patient as few parts as possible to facilitate its and, in numerous cases, into so many parts that reassembly thereof isimpossible', with the result that thewhole operation has to be repeated. Evenwhere-no teeth are inthe' jaw of "which a plaster impression is to be m'ade,-itfrequently happens that there are ridges on the gums, and this, of course,

7 will occasion much difficulty in removal of the plaster therefrom until broken to an,

unfavorable extent with much" discomfort to the patient. -Briefly,'-the' present invention comprises a tray made up of'a plurality of parts or members, and having means positioned therein for weakening or In many -i n--' tohcause breakage of the plaster i-on such predetermined line, and due to theffactflthat such breaking force is applied laterally to the teethembedded in-the plaster, or 'to the 6 0 gums, :lt willv be readilysejen thatthe pa-' tient suffers no ill elfects in theoperation; 1

partial, or half plate, as heretoforey In order that others's'killedin the'art' mayunderstand-the invention, 'onebest embodi of taking 'an impression for eithera whola} ment thereof in both an-upper and alower tray construction, andalso a'half'tr'ayfwill now'be' described"in detail, in connectionwith the accompanying drawings, and' the novel features of the invention 1 then be 1 pointed out in the claims,

In the drawings .v a

Figure 1 is a bottom'plan view of a tray made according to' the present i'nventio'n and intended 1 for making plaster impressions for use in forming an upper plate; 1 "Figures 2 and 3 are,-respectively,'section on the lines 2-2 .andl-3 3 ofFig. l; Figure 4; is a bottomplan view of a tray made'accordin'g to the present invention and intended for making plaster impressions for use in forming a lower plate; v v

"Figures 5 and 6 are, respectively, sections Referring now to the drawings, and par ticularly' to Figs. 1,2, and. 3, the tray con-' sists of separable members 1, 2, the line. of

separation between; such members prefer ably conformingin shape approximately to the tooth or" gum-line of "a human mouth.

Along the line of se parationof thetray membrs, the t l or other material loft-- which'the tray'is formed is bent or turned up, as shown in igs. Qand 3,"to form ridges or flanges 3, 4B, the" meeting edges of which are arranged to-"abut an d so shaped as to" form a single sharp edge atthei'r meeting point,"whereby the plaster, after it sets on the teeth or gums, or,b'oth,*"is weakened along a predetermined line to anextent fav 'oring its breakage on such line when the parts are forced slightly apart by the insertion of a flat instrument of any nature be tween the members making up the tray and then turning such instrument. It will be found that a very slight force only need be applied to cause the plaster to separate along the line of the ridge formed by the edges 3,4, and no special provision for. movement of the members 1, 2 with respect to -each other need be provided to permit this, as

the metal of which the tray members-is composed will possess spring qualities sufiicient for the purpose.

, To facilitate assembly of the tray for the reception of plaster or modeling material,

tongues 6 may be stamped out of the ridge forming portion of the outer tray member, and such tongues then bent outward, as shown in Fig. 2, to support the part 2 on which, the plaster for taking impressions. Onev manner of.

of: the lingual arch rests. securing the tray members 1, 2' together, and

.. also providinga convenient form of handle forthe' tray when in use, is shown, this con. sisting of handle portion 7 havingv a wedge shaped part arranged, to enter and frictionally engage staples-or bails 8,-9 formed on orsecured to the parts 1, 2, respectively. The handle may. thus be removed after the tray is positioned. .inthe mouth and the plaster is about to set, or has set, and the time has arrived when the plaster is tobe cracked, as above explained, for removal. f

In Figs. 4, 5 and 6, there is shown a tray especially intended for use in making plaster impressions for a lower plate, the principle of operation of which is generally the same as that described above withreference to Figsl, 2 and 3;

In this case, however, the inner tray member 10, withthe outer tray member 11' in position for use, forms in elfect an. approximately trough surrounding a lingual cavity, the

meeting edges 10, 11, respectively of which, as in the case of Figs. 1, 2 and 3, form a sharp edge 12, due to the tapering off of thematerial forming such turned up edges. The

i two parts of the tray here shown are,'like the construction shown in Fig. 1, han d'led with greater facility and morefirmly secured together while being positioned in the mouth,

by the provision of a handle 7 of a shape similar tothat of Fig. 1, entering and frictionally engaging staples or bails 15, 16 formed, respectively, on the inner and outer tray members 10, 11,. as clearly shown in Figs. 4 and 6. The means for securing'sep aration of the plaster cast in this form of the tray is the same as that described above with,

respect to Fig. 1 and, therefore, .needsno further description. v The members of this half tray .may. be

. conveniently secured together in any desired semi circular,

manner, or as shown, by.tongues ,18 19, "at one end", and staples o'rba'ils 20; 21 secured to two members 22, 23, respectively, of the half tray, and arranged to receive a. handle 24-, which frictionally engages said staples 20, 21 The shape in'cross section of this halftray is approximately the same as shown in Fig. 5.:

It will be understood that Ido not confine myself to any specific: shapeof tra or;

the means for temporarily securing the tray] members together, as obviouslymany changes and modifications of such; parts,;as,

well as of other features of the 'devi.ce,-, may:

be made, while still retaining the invention defined by the claims; I

Generic claims to. the broad inventionhere-- 1n shown arezmade in. appllcants-co-pending application, Serial No. 613,323.

WVhat I claim. isz

1. A dental impression tray, comprising 7 an inner member arranged to: hold. mouldmg.- mate-rial 1n taking impressions of the palatal arch and upper jaw, ,a-iseparable outer member surrounding said inner -mem-'- ber on all sides except at the back thereof,

afl'ange formed on the inner side of said. outer member, a flange formed on, the outer side of said inner member, the edges of saidflanges being arranged to abut and form a sharp edged ridgeof a shape approximating that of a set of teeth, and a handle having a portion arranged to co-operatewith'means formed on the bottomso-f said tray members to hold the same together when in use.

2. A dental impression tray comprising an inner member having a. lingual cavityin its middle portion, aseparable outer member surrounding said inner member on all formed on the bottomso-f the tray members to hold the same together when in use.

In testimony whereof, I have hereuntoset myr hand. I

' LOUIS BALTER. r. 

